Jor-El
Jor-El (d. 1980) was a highly respected Kryptonian scientist on his homeworld of Krypton, where he tried to save his doomed race when he realized their planet's core was about to collapse, but his efforts fell on deaf ears. He then sent his only son Kal-El away to Earth to save his life, while he stayed on Krypton, where he was murdered by General Dru-Zod. Jor-El made preparations for his son on Earth, with the Command Key guiding his son to the Fortress of Solitude where he could receive information on his home planet. Biography Early Life Jor-El was born on Krypton, genetically engineered to be more intelligent and innovative, making him a more efficient scientist when he grew to adulthood. His engineering was evident as he went on to become the most prominent scientific mind on his home planet. As an adult, he met and married Lara Lor-Van, and also became friends with the Kryptonian Warrior Guild leader General Dru-Zod. Birth of Kal-El Jor-El and Lara decided to naturally conceive a child, directly disobeying Kryptonian law. They decided that, for their son to have a chance free of the chains of Kryptonian society and for his survival, they must send him to Earth. Soon after, Jor-El began studying the mining of Krypton's core that the Law Council had commissioned for natural resources, and he found that the planet's core was collapsing. Realizing that his family had little chance, he began preparations to send his soon-to-be-born son away to another planet to ensure his survival. Jor-El later helped Lara give birth to their child, a son they named "Kal-El." He then went to Kandor and stood before the Law Council, giving his evidence and telling them that Krypton's core was about to collapse. The Council did not acknowledge his findings, however, and dismissed him. Zod, however, interrupted the session, agreeing with Jor-El and telling the scientist of his plans to overthrow the Council, stating that certain bloodlines will have to be sacrificed to make Krypton's future better. Jor-El, knowing that his newborn son would likely be sacrificed for his natural birth, realized he had to take action. Zod's men attempted to arrest Jor-El, who managed to escape with help from Kelex. After witnessing Zod's forces begin a war to take over the planet, Jor-El headed out to retrieve the Growth Codex to stop Zod from using it to grow more Kryptonians under his command. Arriving at the Central Hub, he discarded his ceremonial armor, dove underwater, swam past all the embryos of potential Kryptonians, and took the Codex as alarms began to go off. He avoided the guards and launched himself off of the side, landing on H'Raka who took him home to the House of El Citadel. Upon returning home, Jor-El was greeted by a concerned Lara who, along with Kelor, found a world to send their son to. Lara voiced concerns over sending Kal-El away, saying the humans would kill their child, but Jor-El reassured her that Kal-El would be like a god to them. He then took Kal-El and placed him inside a spacecraft before implanting the Codex onto his son's cells whilst imprinting a holographic version of himself into a Command Key before sealing the ship and preparing it for launch. Kelex notified Jor-El that Zod and his men were approaching the citadel. To keep Zod from stopping the launch of his son's ship, Jor-El donned battle armor and armed himself with a rifle as Lara initiated the final launch sequence. Zod arrived, demanding the Codex that Jor-El stole earlier, and the two former friends battled after Jor-El shot two of Zod's soldiers before they could destroy the ship. Jor-El put up a tough fight against Zod, catching him across his face near his eye before beating Zod down. Zod pleaded with Lara to stop the launch, but she ignited the engines and Kal-El's ship took off. As the three of them watched, an enraged Zod drew a blade and fatally stabbed Jor-El, killing him. Legacy Thirty-three years after his Kryptonian father's death on Krypton, Kal-El, now named Clark Kent, discovered the Fortress of Solitude and plugged in the Command Key, uploading an interactive holographic projection of Jor-El into the ship's systems. Jor-El greeted his son warmly, and when Clark was curious about his origins, who he was, and why he was sent to Earth, he informed him that their home had been destroyed, and that he and Lara sent him to Earth to survive. He told Clark that he must continue to test the limitations of his powers under the Yellow sun and that he can provide humanity with hope by leading by example. Later, when Clark and Lois Lane boarded the Black Zero to negotiate with Zod, Clark slipped Lois his Command Key which she later used to upload Jor-El's hologram into the ship's mainframe. Jor-El freed Lois from her holding cell, told her how to send Zod and his soldiers back to the Phantom Zone, and helped her get to an escape pod. After Lois was jettisoned from the Black Zero, Jor-El stayed behind and changed the atmosphere aboard the ship to that of Earth, giving a weakened and helpless Clark his strength and powers back. Jor-El then gave some more words of wisdom to his son, telling them that he had it within him to save all of humanity. As Clark flew away to save Lois, Jor-El disappeared. Later on, when Zod arrived at the Fortress to secure the Genesis Chamber aboard, Jor-El appeared and tried to talk his former friend out of his plans for terraforming Earth into a new Krypton and wiping out humanity. Zod, however, dismissed Jor-El's projection and terminated his program from the Fortress. Appearance Jor-El is a man of medium height and a bulky build, with longish, graying brown hair and beard, and brown eyes. He wears a blue Kryptonian undersuit that bears the House of El emblem on the chest, and normally wears a long, brown overcoat over the top. He also has Ceremonial Armor that can fit on top of his normal robes which can provide a bit of protection but isn't suitable for battle. It is an intricate shoulder armor that also has an intricate House of El emblem along with a long purple cape. Jor-El also wore gold cream battle armor that fits over that top of his undersuit. It has protection on the torso covering his vital organs, arms, and legs. It has a House of El emblem on the chest. Abilities :See Also: Kryptonian Had Jor-El entered a star system with that of a Yellow Sun, then his body would absorb the solar energy and provide him with incredible powers and enhance his body physically and would obtain powers identical to those of Kal-El, who was raised from infancy on the planet Earth. Jor-El also possessed amazing marksmanship with weapons such as the Kryptonian Rifle, as seen when Zod's men arrested Jor-El and Kelex intervened. He was also quite skilled in hand-to-hand combat (even going toe to toe with someone as skilled as Zod), as well as intelligence (being one of Krypton's top minds). Personality Jor-El was an innovative character who broke the thinking boundaries programmed into his engineered DNA. Feeling that Krypton's society had become stale and flawed, he and his wife chose the illegal step of conceiving a child naturally, strongly believing in their cause. Knowing that his planet was to be destroyed, he took the strong step of sending his son to Earth so that he could survive and be free of Kryptonian society's chains, choosing to stay behind so that any flaws did not travel with his son. He was also not afraid to fight quite literally for the protection of his son, engaging his long-time friend Zod in battle. Appearances *''Man of Steel'' Trivia * Sean Penn, Clive Owen, and Russell Crowe were the choices for the role of Jor-El. The role went to Russell Crowe. * This is the first live-action interpretation of Jor-El to not wear all-white Kryptonian robes. * Kevin Costner and Russell Crowe, the actors for Jor-El and Jonathan Kent, both have played Robin Hood in the films Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves and Robin Hood, respectively. See Also *Jor-El's Battle Armor *Jor-El's Ceremonial Armor External links * * Category:Superman Category:Aliens Category:Deceased characters Category:Kryptonian Category:Characters in the comics Category:Man of Steel Category:Man of Steel characters Category:House of El Category:Males Category:1980 deaths